Law in Practice

Nigel Patrick talks through new Sentencing Council guidelines on allocation, offences taken into consideration and totality 

Definitive guidelines have been published by the Sentencing Council on three overarching aspects of sentencing: allocation, offences taken into consideration (TICs) and totality.

The guidelines, which will come into force in June, aim to ensure that the principles in each of these areas of sentencing practice are applied consistently in courts in England and Wales. 

Child and Youth Justice

There is no longer a presumption against children giving evidence in today’s family courts. Francis Wilkinson examines the recent Family Justice Council guidelines. 

“Guidelines in relation to children giving evidence in family proceedings” was issued by the Family Justice Council in December 2011. A Working Party was set up following the Court of Appeal’s recommendation in Re W [2009] EWCA Civ 644, the case which later went to the Supreme Court [2010] UKSC 12. In his Foreword, Sir Nicholas Wall, President of the Family Division, writes that following the Supreme Court decision, ‘there was no longer a presumption or even a starting point against children giving evidence in such cases’. However, the occasions on which children give evidence of abuse they have suffered continue to be very rare.  In contrast, according to the Crown Prosecution Service, 48,000 children were called to give evidence in criminal proceedings in 2008-09. That had risen from 30,000 in 2006-07.  Why is that? 

The importance of recognising young people with speech, language and communication needs is increasingly being accepted and understood by the Youth Justice workforce. Anita Kerwin-Nye explains the benefits for all of raising awareness of this hidden disability 

A court appearance can be a complex and bewildering experience for anyone. But for a young person with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) the process can be a minefield of jargon, misunderstanding and confusion. Research shows that over 60% of young people in the youth justice system have SLCN (Bryan, K 2008). This means they have difficulty communicating with others, a skill most of us take for granted; being able to say what you want and to understand what others are saying are the most important skills we need in life. However, young people with SLCN find it hard to articulate what they want to say, might have difficulty understanding what is being said to them or simply don’t understand social rules such as how to take turns in a conversation or to respond to what the other person has just said. Crucially, they may not be able to communicate effectively at a police interview or a court appearance, which could have profound implications. Indeed as the The Audit Commission Report, A Review of the Reformed Youth Justice, states “If a young person is inarticulate, inhibited or lacks understanding...this may lead to misunderstandings and even the passing of an inappropriate sentence.” 

Benjamin Greenstone questions whether the criminal courts are keeping up with new social media 

While working part time in a Crown Court as a logger and also while Marshalling, I have seen a number of applications to adduce evidence of bad character based on evidence gleaned from social networking sites. This most commonly takes the form of information about who the witnesses and/or defendants are “friends” with on Facebook and who they “follow” on Twitter. 

Child and Youth Justice

Brenda Campbell and Shauneen Lambe examine the report on the Youth Justice System recently released by the Centre for Social Justice.  

In February 2010, the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), a think-tank founded by Iain Duncan Smith, launched a review of the Youth Justice System. January 2012 saw the release of the CSJ’s report on the Youth Justice System, “Rules of Engagement”. The thorough and well researched report is the result of 2 years work for the centre, gathering evidence country wide and from a diverse range of professionals. 

Having spent the year after university working in a law centre in Birmingham, Emily Johnson examines the possible effects of the proposed legal aid reforms on the Law Centre Movement. 

On 13 May 2010 Liam Byrne MP, former Chief Secretary to the Treasury, somewhat ominously forewarned his successor that “there is no money”. The latest figures indicate that the UK has amassed a national debt totalling £770 billion, upon which it is paying interest at the annual rate of around £43 billion. 

At the 2011 Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year awards, Marc Willers received the award for Barrister of the Year. He talks about the practice he has developed and in particular about his representation of Gypsies and Travellers

I was very surprised and truly honoured to receive the Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year (LALY) award in 2011. It was a real privilege to be handed the award by Doreen Lawrence who has worked tirelessly to obtain justice for her son, Stephen, and in doing so has forced our society to acknowledge and address institutional racism. 

Regulatory practitioners and those who favour complementary health therapy should be aware of changes in the practice of herbal medicine, writes Melissa Coutinho. 

There cannot be many of us who, despite spam filters, have not been exhorted on a regular basis to purchase a medicinal product that has promised to change our lives. Depending upon whether one wants to improve one’s performance professionally, physically or socially, there appears to be a product marketed directly for such a purpose. 

asks Catherine Heard, Head of Policy at Fair Trials International

Sir Scott Baker’s year-long review of the UK’s extradition arrangements reported on 18th October. The press coverage of its findings focused on the difficult case of Gary McKinnon and on the report’s clean bill of health for the UK-US extradition treaty - findings that understandably disappointed campaigners wanting a renegotiation of our extradition treaty with the United States.  

X is physically disabled. He had spent time campaigning for disabled rights. Last year, a jury convicted him of having seriously sexually assaulted others in the community far more profoundly disabled than himself. Elizabeth Smaller considers the issues raised by the trial
  

The witnesses and their disabilities 

The case of X involved three witnesses who fitted every criteria of vulnerable. All suffered with cerebral palsy, a condition which affects motor development and amongst other things creates severe difficulties of speech making giving evidence in the conventional way impossible.